Ground coffee filled beverage tape



Dec. 20, 1966 A. D. ElTZEN GROUND COFFEE FILLED BEVERAGE TAPE OriginalFiled Sept. 21. 1960 13 Sheets-Sheet l Dec. 20, 1966 A. D. EITZEN3,293,042

GROUND COFFEE FILLED BEVERAGE TAPE Original Filed Sept. 21. 1960 13Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENToR flaw/5r D. E/TZZA/ S M W ATTORNE Y 5 I Dec. 20,1966 E D, EITZEN GROUND COFFEE FILLED BEVERAGE TAPE 13 Sheets-Sheet 3Original Filed Sept. 21, 1960 Dec. 20, 1966 Original Filed Sept. 21,

A. D. EITZEN GROUND COFFEE FILLED BEVERAGE TAPE 13 Sheets-Sheet 4 IN VEN TOR A mwsr P- E1 12 EM A TTORNEVS DECQ 20, 1966 D, ElTZEN GROUNDCOFFEE FILLED BEVERAGE TAPE l3 Sheets-Sheet 5 Original Filed Sept 21.1960 INVENTOR Auawr p. 5 rz 6 ATTORNEYS Dec. 20, 1966 A. D. EITZENGROUND COFFEE FILLED BEVERAGE TAPE Original Filed Sept. 21, 1960 13Sheets-Sheet 6 Dec. 20, 1966 A. D. EITZEN (mourn) COFFEE FILLED BEVERAGETAPE Original Filed Sept. 21, 1960 13 Sheets-Sheet 7 INVENTOR Aqwsr 0 1TZE/V 6 WM 1 ATTORNEY 5 A. D. EITZEN GROUND COFFEE FILLED BEVERAGE TAPEOriginal Filed Sept. 21, 1960 Dec. 20, 1 966 15 Sheets-heet 5 awn.

mus/won Aver/.51 Z7. 5/ TZEN ATTORNEYS Dec. 20, 1966 A. D. EITZEN3,293,042

GROUND COFFEE FILLED BEVERAGE TAPE Original Filed Sept. 21. 1960 15Sheets-Sheet 9 IIIIIIIIII- I J9 A I 1 r M M1 515 0'5 nvvenmk A r-usr 0-E1725 SWMv WM TTORNEYS Dec. 20, 1966 A. D. ElTZEN GROUND COFFEE FILLEDBEVERAGE TAPE l3 Sheets-Sheet 10 Original Filed Sept. 21, 1960 Dec. 20,1966 A. D. EITZEN 3,293,042 I GROUND COFFEE FILLED BEVERAGE TAPEOriginal Filed Sept. 21. 1960. 13 Sheets-Sheet ll flrzilv ATTORNEKSuwE/vroR 141/00: r B wadww wNmW Dec. 20, 1966 A. D. EITZEN GROUND COFFEEFILLED BEVERAGE TAPE 13 Sheets-Sheet 12 Original Filed Sept. 21. 1960ATToR/VE Y6 Dec. 20, 1966 A. D. EITZEN GROUND COFFEE FILLED BEVERAGETAPE Original Filed Sept. 21, 1960 13 Sheets-Sheet 13 m a W Y m M N R "vm m r MM 0 A w 4 3 r 4 United States Patent F 1 Claim. 01. 99-771 Thisapplication is a continuation of application Serial No. 419,618, filedSeptember 25, 1964, now abandoned, which application is in turn adivision of application Serial No. 57,495, filed September 21, 1960, nowPatent No. 3,186,137.

The invention is particularly concerned with novel tapes carryingcommodities in discrete masses adapted for use in automatic extractionmachines, for example, automatic coffee brewing machines.

The invention is also concerned with the novel tape produced by themachine and method disclosed and claimed in copending application No.57,495.

A coffee brewing machine of the type above referred to is disclosed incopending application of Zimmermann and Davis, Serial No. 174,640, filedJanuary 9, 1962, now abandoned, a continuation of Serial No. 771,132,filed October 31, 1958, now Patent No. 3,209,676. Such a vending machineoperates upon a coffee tape comprising two layers of water permeablematerial, such as paper, between which and spaced along the tape arediscrete masses of ground coffee, which masses can be centered in thebrewing machine by means of indexing holes in the tape which cooperatewith indexing pins in the machine.

A machine which is very suitable for producing the beverage tape of thepresent invention comprises a reservoir of ground coffee, two runs ofwater-permeable paper, mechanism for forming a series of dimples in onerun of paper, for feeding a measured charge of ground coffee to eachsuch dimple, for briquetting the charge of coffee deposited in thedimple, for juxtaposing the second run of paper to the first over thebriquetted charges of coffee, for sealing the second run of paper to thefirst in a circumferential zone surrounding each briquette of coffee toform a pod, and for producing indexing holes in the tape in fixed andpredetermined relationship to the pods.

The invention has the purpose of providing a coffee tape which when usedin an automatic brewing machine will make it possible to extract themaximum amounts of flavor constituents from the coffee pod in theminimum time. The achievement of this objective requires that the coffeegrounds in the pod be arranged in a homogeneous mass so that theextracting fluid in the brewing machine will not find channels of lowcoffee ground concentration and thereby bypass a portion of the coffeegrounds.

How the foregoing objectives and other objects and advantages of theinvention are attained will be understood more clearly upon reference tothe description contained hereinbelow and to the drawings.

FIGURE 1 is an elevational view of the machine constructed in accordancewith the invention, illustrating a side of the machine which forconvenience will be designated as the right side of the machine;

FIGURE 2 is a sectional elevational view facing the back of the machine,taken approximately from the line 2-2 of FIGURE 1, and illustrating thetable arrangement of the machine and the toggle mechanism for actuatingthe briquetting plungers.

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged sectional elevational view taken approximatelyon line 3-3 of FIGURE 1 and illustrating the toggle mechanism foractuating the heat 3,293,042 Patented Dec. 20, 1966 sealing units andthe punches for producing indexing holes in the tape;

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged cross section taken on the line 4-4 of FIGURE 2illustrating the arrangement of the briquetting plungers, the heatsealing units and hole punches and their toggle mechanisms and alsodiagrammatically indicating the disposition of the conveyors;

FIGURE 5 is an enlarged cross section taken on the line 5-5 of FIGURE 1illustrating the commodity transfer mechanism and the toggle mechanismfor actuating the briquetting plungers;

FIGURE 6 is a still further enlarged view illustrating the conveyorindexing mechanism, the view being taken as indicated by the line 6-6 ofFIGURE 7;

FIGURE 7 is a sectional view taken on the line 7-7 of FIGURE 6;

FIGURES 8 and 9 illustrate different operating positions of themechanism of FIGURE 6;

FIGURE 10 is a detailed view of the pawl release plate forming a part ofthe indexing mechanism;

FIGURE 11 is a plan view of one half of the machine taken as indicatedby the line 11-11 of FIGURE 1 and shpwing the relative locations of thecommodity feeding unit, the briquetting plunger, the heat sealingmechanism and the conveyor, the latter being diagrammaticallyillustrated by dot and dash lines;

FIGURE 12 is a front elevational view of the mechanism of FIGURE 11;

FIGURE 13 isa fragmentary sectional view taken on the line 13-13 ofFIGURE 11 and showing the briquetting plunger retracted and the heatsealing head and hole punch in punching positions;

FIGURE 14 is an enlarged fragmentary plan section of one half of themachine taken on the line 14-14 of FIGURE 1 and illustrating the tapecorrection mechanism of the machine;

FIGURE 15 is a detailed fragmentary view of a tape feed clutch of themachine taken on the line 15-15 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 16 is a detailed View of the latch of the clutch mechanism ofFIGURE 15;

FIGURE 17 is a fragmentary plan view of three of the links of theconveyor mechanism;

FIGURE 18 is a sectional elevational view taken on the line 18-18 ofFIGURE 17;

FIGURE 19 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view taken on the line19-19 of FIGURE 18 and illustrating the punch for producing indexingholes in the tape;

FIGURE 20 is an enlarged vertical sectional view of the heat sealingdevice of the mechanism;

FIGURE 21 is an enlarged plan section of the commodity fluidizing devicetaken on the line 21-21 of FIGURE 5;

FIGURES 22 to 27, inclusive, are diagrammatic views illustrating thesequence of operation of the commodity transfer and briquettingmechanism;

FIGURE 28 is a chart illustrating the sequence of operations controlledby the timing cams;

FIGURE 29 is a sectional elevational view illustrating commodityleveling mechanism which may be used in the machine of the invention;

FIGURE 30 is a diagrammatic view illustrating on a smaller scale thanthat of FIGURE 29 the sequential operation of the dimpling plunger andthe leveling and briquetting mechanism of FIGURE 29, and of the heatsealing mechanism;

FIGURE 31 is a plan section on the line 31-31 of FIGURE 32 illustratingthe leveling and briquetting punch of FIGURE 29;

FIGURE 32 is a cross sectional view taken on the line 32-32 of FIGURE33;

FIGURE 33 is a cross sectional view taken on the line 3333 of FIGURE 32;

FIGURE 34 is a plan view of the structure of FIG- URE 33;

FIGURE 35 illustrates the briquetting plunger and leveling blade ofFIGURE 32 in the briquetting position; and

FIGURE 36 is an isometric view of the briquetting plunger and levelingblade.

Various features of the beverage tape of the present invention can bestbe understood by considering the structure and operation of equipmentfor making the tape as disclosed hereinafter and also in the parentapplication Serial Number 57,495.

The overall organization of the machine of the invention can best beseen in FIGURES 1 and 2. As illustrated there the machine comprises atable generally supported on framework 51 which also supoprts a shelf 52and a superstructure generally indicated at 53.

In general, the primary drive mechanism including a motor M andreduction gear mechanism R are mounted on the shelf 52, the actual tapeforming mechanism T is located on table 50, and the driving and timingmechanism D is located just under table 50.

The machine illustrated in the drawings comprises a single driving andtiming mechanism, and dual paper feed, dual coffee feed, and dual tapeforming mechanism, as may be seen most clearly in FIGURE 2.

The tape is actually formed on a series of moving tables 54 which areflexibly interconnected to form a continuous conveyor chain, two chains55 being employed in the machine.

The location of the runs of chain 55 may be seen in FIG. 1. Theconstruction of chain 55 may best be understood upon reference to FIGS.17 and 18.

Each movea'ble table member 54 (see FIGS. 17 and 18) comprises a plate56 provided with hinge ears 5757 and 5858 by means of which, togetherwith hinge pins 59, each member 54 is hingeably interconnected with thenext.

Each member 54 is provided with a pocket 60 in its upper surface whosesize and shape determines the size and shape of the coffee pod to beformed on the tape.

Each member 54 is also provided with a recess 61 in its lower surfacewhich underlies the pocket 60 and with which it is in communication bymeans of bores 62.

Each member 54 is also provided with two punch dies 63, the details ofwhich are illustrated in FIG. 19. Each die 63 is of hollow cylindricalform and is provided with a circumferential cutting edge 64 alined withthe internal cylindrical surface of the die. The internal bore 65 of thedie is in communication with a bore 66 in plate 56. Die 63 cooperateswith a punch anvil 67 which is actuated in timed relationship to otheroperations of the mechanism to force tape 68 (see FIG. 19) against thecutting edge 64 of die 63. The punched out paper is removed throughbores 65 and 66 by means of a vacuum connection described below.

Each chain 55 is mounted in a continuous run and passes over a pair ofdouble sprockets 69. Each sprocket 69 comprises a pair of end plates 70and a band 71. End plates 70 are provided wit-h notches 72 adapted toreceive and drivingly engage outer ends 59a of binge pins 59.

As viewed in FIG. 1, sprockets 69a are mounted on a shaft 73 andfunction as idlers. Sprockets 69b-at the right in FIG. 1are mounted on ashaft 74 which shaft is driven by a ratchet mechanism illustrated inFIG- URES 6 through 10. The ratchet mechanism is arranged to provide for'both the driving of conveyor chain 55 and for the accurate positioningand indexing of members 54 at the successive stations of tape assembly.It is therefore constructed and arranged to advance conveyor chain 55 bya precisely determined distance and then to stop the conveyor chain andmaintain it in such position for a precisely determined length of time.

The ratchet mechanism comprises a ratchet wheel keyed to shaft 74 by akey 81. Ratchet wheel 80 is provided with teeth 82, each of which isconfigured to include a driving face 83 and a locking face 84. Ratchetwheel 88 is driven by a pawl 85 which is mounted for oscillation on apivot 86 which is in turn supported by a bracket 87 mounted foroscillation on the shaft 74.

Pawl 85 is urged toward ratchet wheel 80 by a spring plunger 88 (seeFIG. 6) mounted in bracket 87. The driving force is communicated to pawl85 through bracket 37 by means of a connecting rod 89 which in turn isdriven by driving and timing mechanism to be described presently. Forthe present it is sufiicient to say that the connecting rod 89 isperiodically pulled downwardly as viewed in FIG. 6.

FIG. 8 illustrates in dot and dash outline the position of the pawlmechanism at the upper end of the stroke of connecting rod 39. Thecorresponding position of pawl 85 is indicated by the referencecharacter 85a. In that position pawl 85a is in driving engagement withdriving face of 83a of ratchet tooth 82a.

As connecting rod 89 moves downwardly the parts assume the intermediateposition as shown in solid outline in FIG. 9 and ultimately assume theirlowest position as illustrated in solid outline in FIGURES 6 and 8.

In order to prevent ratchet wheel 80 from continuing to rotate at themaximum speed of driving pawl 85, after the latter has begun todecelerate due to the configuration of the cam which drives connectingrod 89, there is provided a locking pawl 90 mounted for oscillation onpivot 86 and urged toward engagement with ratchet wheel 80 by a leafspring 91 (see FIG. 6).

Movement of locking pawl 90 toward and away from engagement with ratchetwheel 80 is controlled by a release plate 92 whose plan form isillustrated in FIG. 10 and whose relationship to the other portions ofthe ratchet and pawl mechanism is shown in FIGURES 6 through 9.

Release plate 92 is mounted for oscillation about the center of shaft 74and is actuated by a link 93 which is pivotally secured to release plate92 by means of a pin 94. Link 93 is driven by mechanism described belowin such timed relationship as to drive connecting rod 89 and to permitengagement of locking pawl 90 with the locking face 84 of a ratchettooth 82 before driving pawl 85 begins to undergo a decrease from itsmaximum angular velocity. The operation of locking pawl 90 is asfollows:

It will be observed that lobe 95 of release plate 92 will preventlocking interengagernent between locking pawl 90 and tooth 80 in theazimuth occupied by lobe 95. For example, in FIG. 8, lobe 95 is in aposition to prevent the locking pawl (indicated in FIG. 8 in dottedoutline at 96a) from moving into locking engagement with locking face84a; however, as the pawl assembly moves in a clockwise direction to theposition indicated in solid outline in FIGURE 9, locking pawl 96 candrop into engagement with locking face 84.

With the parts disposed as illustrated in FIG. 9, i.e., with both pawls85 and 90 engaged with ratchet wheel 80, the pawl assembly and ratchetwheel are effectively locked together and the angular velocity ofratchet wheel 80 must conform precisely with the pawl assembly in itsclockwise driving stroke. However, when the pawl assembly begins itscounterclockwise return stroke, ratchet wheel 80 is held againstcounterclockwise rotation by spring loaded dog 96, and locking pawl 90must be dis engaged from the ratchet wheel before the'counterclockwisebackstroke of the pawl assembly can begin. Such disengagement isaccomplished by counterclockwise oscillation of release plate 92. Asillustrated in FIG. 6, lobe 97 of release plate 92, uponcounterclockwise oscillation of the release plate, will engage the lowersurface of locking pawl 90 and lift it clear of locking face 84a ofratchet tooth 82a to the position shown in FIGURE 8, so that the entirepawl assembly can make its counterclockwise backstroke. As the pawlassembly moves from the full line position shown in FIG. 8, locking pawl90 slides over lobe 97 of release plate 92 and thereafter slides overthe outer surface of ratchet tooth 82a. While the leading end of lockingpawl 90 may drop into the space on the counterclockwise side of ratchettooth 82a, it ultimately moves up the inclined surface of lobe 95 ofrelease plate 92 and finally assumes the position 90a shown in dot-dashoutline in FIG. 8.

When the pawl assembly begins its clockwise driving stroke, driving pawl85 engages the driving face 83 of one of ratchet teeth 82 as shown inFIG. 9 and locking pawl 90 slides clockwise over the surface of releaseplate 92 and finally drops into engagement with locking face 84 of tooth82 of ratchet wheel 80.

The conveyor driving and indexing mechanism just described is, as hasbeen stated, driven through connecting rod 89 and link 93.

Connecting rod 89 is pivotally interconnected to one leg 100 (seeFIGURES 6 and 7) of a two-legged rocker arm 101 which is mounted on arock shaft 102. The other leg 103 of rock arm 101 carries cam follower104 which cooperates with cam groove 105 of cam 106. Cam 106 is mountedfor rotation on cam shaft 107, which shaft is driven through sprocket108 and drive chain 109, which is in turn driven by sprocket 110 ofreduction gear mechanism R. Release plate 92 is oscillated in the propertime relationship by means of a linkage through link 93 to lower crossbar 180 of the heat seal unit to be described below.

It will be seen from what has been described so far that conveyor chain55 moves intermittently and clockwise (as shown in FIG. 1). The tape isformed on the table members 54 in the upper (or rightwardly moving) runof chain 55.

The first element of the tape which comes into engagement with conveyorchain 55 is the lower run of paper, which is drawn from supply roll 111(see FIG. 1). From supply roll 111, the paper 112 passes to a post 113and thence to a driving capstan 114 and a spring-loaded pinch roller115, from whence the paper runs downwardly and passes in a bight arounda weighted bar 116 carried on arm 117, which is mounted for oscillationabout a pivot 118. The paper passes from rod 116 upwardly over an idler119 and thence downwardly to the nip between a tape correcting capstan120 and a pinch roller 121, thereafter through tape guides 122 and 123and under a weighted hold-down bar 124, which maintains the run of paperagainst the upper face of members 54 of conveyor chain 55. The tapecorrection capstans 120 and 120a receive their drive from the conveyordrive shaft 74 by means of chain drives 125, 128, and 129. Hence, theoperation of capstan 120 is intermittent and in phase with the motion ofconveyor chain 55.

As will appear from the following description, the lower run of paper isultimately locked securely to the members 54 of conveyor chain 55, as aconsequence of which the paper as it comes into engagement with the topof the conveyor is moving at the same rate as the conveyor.

When a member 54 of conveyor chain 55 comes into position beneathbriquetting plunger 126, recess 61 of member 54 extends over the end of,and is in communication with, vacuum slot 127 (FIGURES 1113) in theupper surface of table 50. The evacuation of the air from recess 61results in the evacuation of air under the paper 112 and pulls thelatter down into partial contact with the floor of pocket 60. When themember 54 is precisely indexed under briquetting plunger 126, conveyorchain 55 is momentarily stopped by the mechanism already described.

While the conveyor is stopped a charge of coffee is deposited on theupper surface of the lower run of paper and the coffee is briquetted bythe briquetting plunger in the following manner:

Ground coffee is charged into coffee reservoir 130,

and an operating level of coffee is maintained in column 131 by means ofa photoelectric control device 132. Column 131 is mounted on a hollowbase member 133; immediately beneath base member 133 is the coffeetransfer mechanism illustrated in FIGURE 5 and in detail in FIGURES 21through 27.

The coffee transfer mechanism comprises a fluidizing means 134, whichincludes a cylindrical sleeve 135 whose inner space is in communicationwith the interior of column 131 and whose wall is pierced with a seriesof apertures 136. An annular space 137 surrounding sleeve 135 issupplied with air through fitting 138 and passage 139. Immediately belowthe fluidizing means is a transfer slide 140 mounted for reciprocalmovement from right to left as viewed in FIG. 5 and having a cylindricalcoffee receiving chamber 141 adapted to register with an end of thecylindrical bore of the coffee fluidizing means 134. The bottom ofchamber 141 is closed, when member 14-0 is in its right-most position asillustrated in FIG. 5, by a fixed metering chamber 143 in registrationwith the position of the recess 60 of a member 54 of conveyor 55 indexedin briquetting position.

Briquetting plunger 126 is mounted for vertical reciprocal movementbetween the elevated position illustrated in FIG. 5 and a compressionposition illustrated in FIG. 26. Both plungers 126 are mounted on crossbar 144 which is in turn supported by posts 145. Reciprocal movement isgiven post 145 by the following mechanism.

The lower ends of posts 145 are secured to a lower cross bar 146, whichis in turn connected to a movable plate 147 by means of a pair of togglelinks 148. Plate 147 is in turn movably suspended from table 50 by apair of toggle links 149. Plate 147 is driven by a crank arm 147aconnected thereto by pin 150 and having a rock shaft 151. Rock shaft 151is driven by a second rock arm 152 pivotally secured by a pin 153 to afollower link 154 straddling cam shaft 107 and carrying a cam follower155 in engagement with cam groove 156 of briquetting cam 157.

Transfer slide 140 is drivingly interconnected with a rack 158 by meansof bracket 159. Rack 158 is driven by a pinion 160 mounted on a shaft161 which is in turn driven through a pinion 162 by a racket 163. Rack163 is pivotally interconnected with one arm 164- of a bell crank 165whose other arm 166 is pivotally interconnected with cross link 167.Cross link 167 is supported only by the two arms 166 of hell cranks 165and is driven by bell crank 168, which is mounted for oscillation on pin169 and which carries cam follower 170 which is in engagement with camgroove 171 of briquetting cam 157.

The entire coffee charging and metering mechanism is mounted forvertical reciprocal movement so that metering plate 142 can be liftedclear of conveyor 55 and the lower run of paper carried thereon. Forthis purpose the coffee charging and metering mechanism is mounted onrods 175 which extend downwardly to cross bar 176 (see FIGS. 5 and 12)which is in turn connected to a boss 177 formed on web 178, which webextends diagonally across the machine, as illustrated in dotted outlinein FIG. 11, to a point 179 of interconnection with lower heat sealingcross bar 180. The reciprocating drive of lower cross bar 180 will bedescribed below.

The operation of the coffee charging and metering and briquettingmechanism is accomplished as follows:

At the start of the operation the coffee charging and metering mechanismis spaced above conveyor 55 as illustrated in FIG. 22. The mechanism nowmoves down to the position illustrated in FIGURES 23 and 5, whereupon ablast of air is introduced into the coffee fluidizing mechanism 133 (asillustrated in FIG. 21) by control valve 181 which is adapted to beopened when arm 164 of crank 165 is in the lower portion of its range ofmovement. The coffee in the fluidizing means 134 is fluidized by the airand is free to drop into coffee chamber 141 of transfer plate 140.Transfer plate 140 now moves to the left to the position illustrated inFIGURE 24, and a portion of the colfee in chamber 141 of transfer plate140 drops through metering chamber 143 of metering plate 142 and intothe partially formed dimple in paper 112 lying in pocket 60 of member54. As soon as the coffee begins to cover the surface of the paper inpocket 60, the passage of air through the paper is reduced and the paperis drawn down tightly against the floor of pocket 60. Transfer plate 140now moves to the right, i.e., to the position shown in FIG. 25, leavingcoffee in the pocket in paper 112 and chamber 143 of metering plate 142,the total amount of coffee deposited being determined by the thicknessof metering plate 142.

It should be noted at this time that the machine may be adjusted todeposit different quantities of coffee in each pod by replacing meteringplate 142 with a plate of greater or less thickness. The combination ofthe shearing action of the transfer plate which strikes the amount ofcoffee in the metering chamber flush with the top of the metering platewith the employment of vacuum to pull paper into contact with the bottomof control 60 insures precise metering of whatever amount of coffee isdesired to deposit in each pod.

Briquetting plunger 126 now descends and, in passing through aperture143 in metering plate 142, compresses the coffee to the form ofbriquette illustrated in FIG. 27. It will be noticed that the lowersurface of briquetting plunger 126 is configured to form a mirror imageof the floor of pocket 60 in member 54. Briquetting plunger 126 is nowwithdrawn and the entire coffee metering mechanism is elevated once moreto the position illustrated in FIG. 22. The specific carrier 54 justdescribed, i.e., the member 54 carrying the lower run of paper and acompleted briquette of coffee, now passes to the heat sealing stationillustrated in FIG. 20, which station is in registration with heatsealing head 200.

Before the heat sealing step can be accomplished, however, the upper runof paper must be brought into position. The upper run of paper 201 isdrawn from a paper reel 202 (see FIG. 1), from whence it passesdownwardly around a post 203 and thence around driving capstan 204 andbetween capstan 204 and a spring loaded pinch roller 205. From there,paper 201 passes in a bight around a weighted bar 206 carried on an arm207 which is pivotally mounted at 208. From bar 206, paper 201 goesaround idler 209 then downwardly to the nip between a correcting capstan120a and a pinch roller 121a and then straight downwardly to a positionof sliding engagement with a guide plate 210 and between guide pins 211protruding therefrom. From the lower end of guide plate 210 (see FIG.20) paper 201 extends generally horizontally above the just-formedbriquette of coffee.

Heat sealing head 200 comprises an annular heat sealing surface 212which has electric heating elements 213. When heat sealing head 200 isin its elevated or retracted position it is supported from a shoulderedfitting 214 by means of an internally shouldered bushing 215. However,bushing 215 is free to move upwardly with respect to fitting 214. Whenfitting 214 is moved downwardly by mechanism to be described, downwardforce is transmitted to head 200 by means of the spherical surfaces 214aand 215a; thus, when head 200 comes into engagement with the uppersurface of the paper run 201 and presses it against member 54, head 200is free to accommodate itself to any variation in thickness of the tapeand exert a uniform pressure in a continuous zone extending around thebriquette of coffee. Those skilled in the art will understand that thepaper employed is of a type which is capable of being adhesively heatsealed upon the application of heat and pressure of the kind developedby the just-described operation of heat sealing head 200.

Heat sealing head 200 also carries a pair of spring loaded anvils 67which cooperate with dies 63 in the manner above described to provideindexing perforations in the finished coffee tape. In addition, heatsealing head 200 carries stripper plate 220 whose lower edge is springloaded to a position lower than head- 200 but which is free to retractwhen heat sealing head 200 is in pressure engagement with the tape onmember 54. Stripper plate 220 serves to strip the upper surface of paper201 from heat sealing head 200 when the latter begins its upward stroke.

Heat sealing head is reciprocally driven through upper heat sealingcross bar 221 which in turn is driven by studs 222 which are connectedto lower heat sealing cross bar 180. Lower heat sealing cross bar 180'is mounted and reciprocally driven in a manner similar to the drive oflower briquetting cross bar 146, i.e., cross bar 180 is connected by apair of toggle links 223 to a plate' 224 which is in turn suspended fromtable 50 by a pair of toggle links 225. Plate 224 is driven by a crank226 which is mounted on a crank shaft 227 which in turn carries a crankarm 228 pivotally connected at 229 to a follower link 230 whichstraddles cam shaft 107 and which carries a cam follower 231 whichengages a cam groove 232 in heat sealing cam 106.

The operation at the heat sealing station is as follows:

When heat sealing head 200 descends from the position illustrated inFIG. 20, it engages the upper run of paper 201 and presses it againstthe lower run of paper 112 in a circumferential zone completelysurrounding the coffee briquette and raises the temperature of the paperin that zone to the point at which adhesion between two layers of paperis effected. At the same time anvils 67 force the tape against cuttingedges 64 of dies 63, which cut circular indexing holes through the tape,the circular portions being sucked out through passage 66 discussedabove. I

down rollers 235 which serve to maintain the finished tape in positionon conveyor member 54 while the latter is at the station immediatelyfollowing the heat sealing station, and thereby provides for drivinginterengagement between the conveyor and the finished tape and hencewith the two strips of paper in their separate runs.

In this connection, it should be noted that the conveyor runsintermittently and that the mechanism which pulls paper from the paperrolls run continuously. The machine includes means for accommodating therequirement of the tape forming mechanism for a supply of paper whichcan be accelerated and decelerated quickly, and which will impose noload on the tape forming mech anisrn.

The mechanism for feeding the upper and lower runs to the tape formingmechanism is substantially identical; only the mechanism for supplyingthe lower run of paper will be described in detail. Capstan and pinchroller 121 are operated at a speed capable of supplying paper at a rateslightly in excess of the linear velocity with which the conveyor moves,as a consequence of which during the period when the conveyor is movingfrom one station to the next a slack accumulates between capstan 120 andthe tape forming mechanism.

While such slack is desirable as a means of freeing the tape formingmechanism of the necessity of pulling the tape, it is equally desirableto avoid an excessive accumulation of such slack. Accordingly, pinchroller 121 is released from its engagement with capstan 120 during theperiod when the conveyor is stopped, so that the slack which hadaccumulated between the capstan 120 and the tape forming mechanism canbe taken up. When pinch roller 121 is released weighted bar 116 drawsthe paper taut, and the slack which had existed between capstan 120 andthe tape forming mechanism now appears as an additional length of tapein the run between capstan 114 and idler 119, i.e., the bar 116 dropsdown by an amount equivalent to the slack taken up. Capstan 114 runs atthe same speed as capstan 120 and, as a consequence of the action justdescribed, bar 116 drops a little lower with each cycle of operation. Atthe bottom of the desired range of rod 116, the drive to capstan 114 isstopped momentarily and, as a consequence, rod 116 is raised to thepredetermined upper limit of its motion, whereupon capstan 114 isrestarted.

The mechanism by which rotation of capstan 114 is controlled by theposition of rod 116 is as follows:

Rod 116 is carried by rod 117 and carries with it a cam member 250 whichactuates a switch 251. Switch 251 controls a solenoid 252 which in turnactuates a brake (see FIG. 15) for stopping capstan 114. The drive ofcapstan 114, as illustrated in FIG. 15, is effected through a clutchcomprising a driving member 253 keyed to drive shaft 254 and urged by aspring 255 against a driven member 256, which is mounted for rotationwith capstan 114. Also mounted for rotation with capstan 114 is aratchet wheel 257 (see FIG. 16) which is adapted to be engaged by alatch 258 actuated by solenoid 252. Latch 258 is normally held out ofengagement with ratchet 257 by spring 259, but upon energization ofsolenoid 252 the latch is engaged and capstan 114 stops rotation.

The drive shaft 254 is driven by gear 260, which meshes with gear 261(see FIG. 1) keyed on the corresponding drive shaft 262 of the clutchunit of capstan 204 for the upper run of paper 201. The drive shaft 262receives its drive from the cam shaft 167 by means of sprocket 263,chain 264, sprocket 265, lay shaft 266 and bevel gearing 267.

The disengagement of pinch roller 121 from capstan 120, while theconveyor is stationary, is effected by an interconnection withbriquetting cam 157. Such interconnection comprises the followingelements. Pinch wheel 121 is supported by a link 270 which is connectedto a correction bar 271 which is supported for horizontal movement by acrank arm 272 of a crank 273. Crank 273 is also provided with a secondarm 274 to which is secured the end of a cable 275 (shown in dottedoutline in FIG. 1) which cable runs over pulleys 276, 277 and 278 to apoint of connection with cam follower arm 279 pivotally mounted at 280and carrying a cam follower 281 in engagement with cam groove 282 ofbriquetting cam 157.

As will be apparent from the foregoing description the coordination ofthe various operations performed by the machine as so far described iseffected by the several cam mechanisms by which the various parts of themachine are driven. The actual cam surfaces consist of two grooves inone cam and two grooves in the other, both cams being mounted on thesame shaft.

The relative timing of the various operations is illustrated in FIG. 28,in which is illustrated the manner in which the positions of the fivecam followers vary as a function of the rotational position of the camshaft. The condition represented by 90 degrees in FIG. 28 is thecondition illustrated in FIG. 1, i.e., the conveyor is stationary, theheat seal head is in its upward position, and just starting its downwardmovement, the coffee transfer plate 140 is in its retracted position (tothe right as illustrated in FIG. 5), the briquetting head in its upwardposition, and pinch wheel 121 is engaged with capstan 120. While the camshaft is rotating from 90 degrees to 360 degrees the conveyor isstationary, although the driving pawl assembly of FIG. 6 goes throughits return stroke between 180 and 270 degrees and dwells in the returnposition for an additional 40 degrees (during which it isover-returned); and although it starts its return stroke at about 310degrees it does not renegotiate the over-return and engage the conveyordrive until about 340 degrees and even then dwells an additional 10degrees before it actually begins the forward drive of the conveyor. Itis during the period that the conveyor is stationary that the coffeetransfer, briquetting and heat seal operations must be performed. Thecoffee transfer and briquetting operations occur at the briquettingposition and must, therefore, be performed sequentially. It will benoted from FIG. 28 that coffee transfer begins at about degrees and iscompleted at about 225 degrees and that the briquetting operation beginsat about 220 degrees and is completed by about 360 degrees.

The heat sealing operation is performed at a separate station and isarranged to continue through substantially all of the 270 degrees ofrotation during which the conveyor is stationary.

The tape correctionor slack removing operationis performed between about250 degrees and 350 degrees.

It should be noted that the tape correcting and coffee transferoperations, while they are displaced by about 100 degrees are similar inform. This is because these two operations are actuated by two camfollowers which engage the same cam groove.

It will be observed that the full line position of the pawls in FIG. 8shows the condition represented by degrees in FIG. 28 and that the dotand dash position shows the condition represented by 270 degrees. Sincethe heat seal head is in it down or heat sealing position between 180degrees and 270 degrees, the release plate 92 is in its locking pawllifting position during this period.

The full line position of the pawls in FIG. 9 shows the conditionrepresented by 45 degrees, in which the heat seal head has moved to itsupper retracted position and has thus oscillated the release plate 92clockwise, the driving pawl 85 has rotated the ratchet wheel in aclockwise direction through one half of its advance, and the lockingpawl 9f) has dropped into locking position. The dot and dash position ofthe locking pawl represents the 0 degree point.

The tape produced by the machine described above has severalcharacteristics.

First, the tape is especially constructed to meet the requirements ofautomatic coffee brewing machines of the kind disclosed in the copendingapplication above referred to. In such machines coffee is brewed bygripping the tape between two members which engage the tape fromopposite sides in a circumferential zone extending around a singlecoffee pod. Water at high temperature and relatively high pressure isforced through the pod from one side to the other. Since many suchmachines are used as coin operated vending machines, a primeconsideration is rapidity of coffee brewing which in turn calls for theuse of relatively high pressure to force a cup of water through thecoffee pod in a length of time which is short enough to satisfy thecustomer. It has been found that a coffee tape whose pods are slackfilled with coffee grounds will inevitably present to the extractingwater a cross section of varying coffee density with the result thatmost of the water passes through the reg-ions of low density andbypasses the regions of high density. When this occurs the extractionprocess is incomplete, and the resulting cup of coffee unsatisfactorilyweak.

According to the present invention the coffee is compressed to form auniform and relatively dense briquette; and the paper making up the tapeis pressed into tight contiguity with the entire surface of thebriquette. Furthermore, the two runs of paper are adhesively secured toone another in circumferential zones extending to contact with the edgesurface of the briquette which edge is precisely defined because of thebriquetting operation.

This means that the volume enclosed by the paper within the adhes-ivelybonded portions is precisely equal to the volume of the compressedcoffee briquette so that 11 the density of the coffee is maintained evenin the event that the form of the briquette is distorted, or thebriquette crumbled, at some time between the time of manufacture of thetape and time of brewing.

The second feature of the coffee tape of the present invention lies inits shape. It will be noted that the upper and lower surfaces of thebriquette are fiat and parallel to one another except at the very edges.This shape has been found to be far superior to the lentil shaped podheretofore used in automatic coffee brewing machines from the point ofview of uniformity and completeness of extraction.

Finally, automatic coffee brewing machines require coifee tapes whosedimensions are precisely controlled within very small limits. This isparticularly true of the location of the coffee pods with respect to the'margins of the tape and one another and of the location of the indexholes with respect to the coffee pods. It has been found that thepunching of the holes simultaneously with the heat sealing operation(which determines the final position of the coffee pod) insures accuracyof .registration of the pod with the extracting equipment in cotfeebrewing machines.

While I have described the invention in terms of the production of tapesfor use in coffee brewing, it will beunderstood that the invention isalso useful in the production of tapes carrying other beverage materialssuch as tea and chocolate and still further that the invention is usefulin the packaging of other powdered materials such as face powder. Inproducing tapes which are not intended for use in extraction equipment,=impermeable materials may, of course, be substituted for the waterpermeable materials used in the described embodiment. In such cases, thepackaged material is retrieved by tearing the pod open.

I claim:

A beverage tape for use in a brewing machine having a brewing chamber,comprising two layers of water permeable material, a series of masses ofground coffee, each comprising a dense compressed briquette of uniformthickness and density substantially throughout the area thereof, saidbriquettes being spaced along the length of said layers and separated byuniform distances along such length and adapted to be sequentiallysubjected to a brewing operation in the brewing chamber of the brewingmachine, said briquettes being positioned between said layers and havingsubstantial dimensions and area in the plane of the tape and each suchbriquette having a clearly defined periphery, said layers of waterpermeable material being pressed into tight contiguity with the surfaceof each briquette and being adhesively bonded to each other completelyaround such briquette immediately adjacent the periphery of thebriquette to form a closely fitting pod, the pod thus formed being equalto the volume of that briquette and said layers of material having fiatareas between the pods and along each edge of the tape projecting Wellbeyond the pods to provide flat sealing regions adapted to be engaged inthe brewing machine at all sides of the brewing chamber.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,272,530 2/1942Patterson. 2,390,071 12/ 1945 Barnett 9977.1 X 2,769,290 11/ 1956Harriman. 3,048,070 8/1962 Groves 9977.1 X 3,209,676 10/1965 Zimmermannet .al. 9977.1 X

A. LOUIS MONACELL, Primary Examiner.

R. N. JONES, Assistant Examiner.

